Instead, Brennan believes he and his three defensive teammates understand their responsibilities and look out for each other.

“I don’t think we’ve been a bend-don’t-break unit,” Brennan said. “I feel we do what we need to do and that we are very solid. All four of us are really tight. We understand when to cover each other and we try not to over commit.”

Yet coach Dave Miller doesn’t mind referring to his defense as a bend-don’t-break group as long as the backfield plays well for the Cardinals (25-1), who face Hickory (27-1) today at 5:05 p.m. in the NCHSAA 3-A championship game at the Dail Soccer Stadium at N.C. State University.

“We talk about bending and not breaking,” Miller said. “We try to keep everything in front and limit opportunities.”

Jacksonville will look to do that today.

This marks the fourth state final trip for the Cardinals, who also advanced to the championship game in 2005, 2006 and 2008, with their only state crown coming in their first trip to the title match.

The Jacksonville-Hickory contest is a rematch of sorts. The Cardinals and Red Tornadoes played one another during a summer team camp in Swansboro with the two squads playing to a tie, Miller said.

“So the boys got to play them and so at least we’ve seen each other, although it was preseason,” Miller said. “It just worked out this year like this. They are a big, strong team. We will see what we got for them.”

Asked what the key for a Jacksonville key would be, Miller said the Cardinals would have to possess the ball more and dictate the game’s tempo. That would certainly help Jacksonville’s defense, which has improved through the season for a team that’s better known for scoring goals than stopping them.

While Brennan and senior Blake Heatherly brought back experience to the backfield, Jacksonville still had three holes to fill on defense.

Enter junior Dylan Elliott and freshman Michael Chin along with senior goalkeeper Zach McCracken. It then didn’t take long for the younger players to step in and up.

“Not too much because Dylan gave us minutes last year off the bench and Michael, with his club experience, I knew he’d he fine,” Miller said. “It was just a matter of them getting used to playing with each other.”

Heatherly knew early on it could be a challenge producing a solid defense.

“I was questioning (the defense’s potential) coming into the season, but once we got going…, I’m happy with all of our performances,” Heatherly said. “Our defense has come up big all year. We are not perfect, but we’ve been keeping our shape pretty well.”

And that’s helped McCracken.

“I really don’t have to worry about a lot of people getting inside the box,” he said.

Each of the defenders has the same goal, which is limit an opponent’s possession and scoring chances. In trying to do that, each brings something different to the backfield.

“Cormick understands the angles, and Blake has good speed and is very athletic,” Miller said. “Michael is very knowledgeable of the game, and Dylan is that way, but he also works hard and he does a good job winning balls.”

Brennan elaborated on the roles of each player.

“Our outside backs, Michael and Dylan, have speed out wide, and Blake and me are pretty strong in the air,” he said. “I feel that covers every base.”

Each of the defenders also has his own personality.

“I’m like the consoler,” Brennan said. “Blake is the one who gets on a person to let them know what it is, and I’ll sit there, talk to them and say what Blake said in a way they can use constructively. Michael is just a funny guy, but he’s quiet if you don’t know him. Dylan is the goofiest kid you’ll ever meet.”

But come game time the Cardinals look to be in a serious mood when they take on Hickory.

Led by Carlos Sevilla, the Red Tornadoes have scored at least 3 goals in 20 games this year and only have three games in which they scored just once, including Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Charlotte Catholic.

“We need to keep our shape and play the way we have been playing,” Heatherly said. “If we play our game, we should be fine.”

Still, the Cardinals will have to adjust their style somewhat with the absence of senior midfielder Austin Patselas, who has to sit out because he was issued his third yellow card in the playoffs in the win at Cardinal Gibbons.

That means senior midfielder Aaron Sparks, junior forwards Warren Washington and Tyler Moore and sophomore forward C.J. Sparks, among others, will need to play better than they have in the past.

“We got a couple of options,” said Miller, adding that either Tyler Waterhouse or Ethan Osborn will start for Patselas. “We are going to look at some things and see what we can do.”